Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-07-06

aAnd yet there are people who say that
there is no such thing as God and no pun
ishment for wickedness," said John aloud.
CHAPTER XIV.
MEANWHILE.
John, it will be remembered, left Mooifon.
tein for Pretoria toward the end Of Decem.
Der and with him went oil the life and light
Of the place.
aDear me, Bessie" said old Silas Croft on
the evening after he had started, "the place
seems very dull without john" a remark in
which Bessie. who was secretly weeping In
the corner, heartily concurred.
Then, a few days afterward, came the news
Of the investment Of Pretoria, but no news Of
John. They ascertained that he had passed
Standerton in safety, but beyond that moth
ing could be heard of him. Day after day
passed, but no news, and at last, one evening,
Bessie broke out in passion Of hysterical
tears.
3What did you send him fora" she asked Of
her uncle. at was ridiculous-I knew it was
ridiculous He could not help jess or get her
back; the most that could happen was that
they both would be shut up together. And
now he is dead-I know that those Beers have
shot him-and it is all your fault! And if he
is dead will never speak to you again"
The old man retreated. somewhat dis
mayed at this outburst, which was not at all
in Bessie's style.
"Ah, WELL" he said to himself, "that is the
way Of women; they turn into tigers about a
mani"
There may have been truth in this reaec-
ton, but tiger is not a pleasant domestic
pet, as poor Silas found out during the next
two months. The more Bessie thought about
the matter the more incensed she grew at his
having sent her lover away. Indeed, in a
little while she quite forgot that she had her.
self acquiesced in his going. In short, her
temper completely gave way under the strain,
that at last her uncle scarcely dared to men
tion Johns name.
Meanwhile things had been going as Ill
without as within. First of all-that was the
day after Johns departure-two or three
loyal Boe1s and an English storekeeper from
Lake Chrissie, in New Scotland. outspanned
on the place and came and implored Silas
Croft to fly for his life into Natal while there
was yet time. They said that the Beers
would certainly shoot any Engishmen who
might be sufficiently defenseless. But the old
man would not listen.
II am an Englishman-civis Romanus
sum-" he said, in his sturdy fashion, "and
do not believe that they will touch ME, who
have lived among them for twenty years.
At any rate, l am not going to run away and
leave my place at the mercy of a pack Of
thieves If they shoot me they will have to
reckon with England for the deed, so I ex-
pect that they will leave me alone. Bessie
can 60 if she likes, but shall stop here and
see tine row through, and there's all end of it. !"
Whereon, Bessie having fatty declined 20
bulge an inch, the loyalists departed in a
hurry, metaphorically wringing their hands
at such all exhibition Of i'll placed confidence
and insuler pride. This little scene occurred
at dinner time, and after dinner old Silas
proceeded to hurl defiance at his foes in an
other fashion. Going to a cupboard i'll his
bedroom, he extracted an exceedingly large
Union Jack, and promptly advanced with it
to an open spot between two Of the orange
trees in front of the house, where q flagstaff
was planted, formed of n very tall young
blue gum, in such a position that it could be
seen for miles around. On this flagstaff it
was old Silas' habit to hoist the Union Jack
on the queens birthday, Christmas day and
other state occasions.
snow, Jantje," he said, when he had bent
on the flag, "run her up, and I'll cheer"' and,
accordingly, as the broad flag floated out Oh
the breeze, he took off his hat and waved It,
and gave such "hip, hip, hurrah" in his
stentorian tones that Bessie came running
down from the house to see what was the
matter. Nor was he satisfied with this, but,
having obtained ladder, he placed it against
the post and sent Jantje up it, inetructing
him to fasten the rope OH which the nag was
bent about fifteen feet from the ground, so
that nobody should get at it to haul it down.
"There," he said, "Ive nailed my colors to
the mast That will show these gentry that
an Englishman lives here
''Confound their politics,
FruStrate their knavSh tricks
God save the queen"
9Anlen," said Bessie but she had her doubts
about the wisdom Of that Union Jack which,
whenever the wind blew, streamed out a
visible defiance not calculated to soothe the
breast Of excited patriots.
Indeed, two days after that, patrol of
three Beers, spying the ensign while yet a
long way off, came galloping up in hot haste
to see what it meant. Silas saw them COM
ing, and, taking his rifle in his hand, went
and stood beneath the flag, for which he had
all almost supelstitious veneration, feeling
sure that they would not dare to meddle
either with him or it.
"What is the meaning of this, Om Slas?p
asked the leader of the three nen, with all Of
whom he was perfectly acquainted
"It means that an Englishman lives here,
JAM" was the answer.
"Haul the dirty rag down." said the man.
u will see you Id first" replied old
Silas.
Thereupon the Boer dismounted and made
for the flagstaff, only to find Uncle Croft's
rifle in direct line with his chest.
"You will have to shoot me first, Jan" he
said, and thereon, after some consultation,
they left him and went away.
The fact was that, r;tandinG that
he was all EngliSlinmn, Sias Croft was very
popular with the Bocrs, most Vi Muom had
known him since thew We're rhilh"A". and q
member of whose volksraad he had twice
been. 1t was to this personal popularity that
he owed the fact that ho was not turned out
Of his house and forced to choose between
serving against his countrymen or being im-
prisoned and otherwise maltreated at the
very commencement Of the rebellion.
For IL fortnight or more after this flag episode
nothing of any Importance happened, and
then came the news of the crushing defeat at
Laing's Mex. At first Silas Croft would not
believe the news. "No general could have
been so mad," he said; but SOON the report
was amply confirmed from native sources.
Another week passed, an. with it came the
news of the British defeat at 1ngogo. The
first they heard of it was OH the morning OF
Feb. s. when Jantje brought Kaftir up to
the veranda at breakfast time This Kaft1r
said that he had been watching the fight from
a mountain; that the English were completely
hemmed in and fighting WELL but that "their
arms were tired" and that they would all be
killed at night time. The Beers, he said,
were not suffering at all-the English could
not "shoot straight" After hearing this they
passed sufficiently miserable day and even